June 27: Letters to the Editor

June 26, 2011

No time for inertia

The country is floundering with a variety of economic problems. Yet all we see from our elected representatives is political posturing. No action and little-to-no attempt to compromise or seek middle ground.

These ideologues should recognize that none of us is correct on every issue all the time. Our representatives in Congress are empowered and paid -— and paid well — to provide the necessary leadership and legislation to guide and protect this nation.

Someone once said that in a problem-solving scenario, you either lead, follow, or get out of the way.

When is the next election?

Joseph D. Nolan

Yorktown

Out of tune

The Obama administration is tone-deaf.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recently told the House Small Business Committee that the administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to "shrink the overall size of government programs."

It is becoming crystal clear that we will never get our national debt under control with this administration at the reins. Obama would rather we pay down our $14,000,000,000,000 debt with tax increases instead of reductions in spending. Let's hope for change in 2012.

Gary Porter

Yorktown

Fair lending

The Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending (VaPERL) and its members have been advocating for a law to end the scourge of usury in Virginia by placing a cap on payday and car title loans for several years. As part of this process, VaPERL drafted and sent a pledge to every member and candidate for a seat in the General Assembly. The pledge commits the member or candidate to this simple, straightforward action:

"I believe consumers should be able to borrow money on fair terms that don't exploit their short-term cash flow needs and drive them to financial ruin. I promise to restore fairness to consumer credit and promote Virginia's economic health by voting for legislation that calls for a loan cap of 36% APR including all fees."

Unfortunately, the efforts to protect citizens from these toxic loans have fallen short as a result of a rich and powerful lobby representing the predatory lenders in our state. We hope that the pledge will energize the members of the General Assembly to do the right thing and follow the mandate from voters to end usury now.

The Delegate Harvey Morgan, who has partnered with Delegate Glenn Oder against usury in Virginia, has announced his retirement. Running for his seat to represent Gloucester and Matthews county is Catesby Jones and we are proud to announce that Jones is one of the first candidates or members of the General Assembly to sign the pledge. We salute Jones for making this bold commitment to the citizens of Virginia. Signing this pledge gives voters insight in the character of this candidate for a seat in the House of Delegates.

Michael H. Lane

Wicomico

Remember values

We are known around the world ffor our democratic ideals, our representative government and our freedoms of religion, press, speech, assembly and our military might.

This July 4th we might revisit our American dream and perhaps revise it. It envisions home ownership for all, opportunity for children to attend a university or a four-year college, and we assumed if we worked hard and performed well at a job, we would not be let go.

Is it not more important what happens in a family in a home rather concentrating on everyone having a three bedroom house on a half acre lot?

To get our country's optimism and "can do" spirit back, we must think through the concept of America and revise our expectations.

What is important is not the material goods of the dream, but our core values.

To use one's gifts for the common good should be the goal of every citizen. Each of us should care and help the most vulnerable in our society and remember, too, our world is much more interconnected than ever. We need to understand and respect people beyond the East and West coasts who are different from us in culture, religion, or race.

We are an exceptional country This July 4th while enjoying family, friends, and neighbors, we should think of our history and our values and be grateful.

Margaret Cook

Yorktown

Those people that you elected to look after your best interest are going to dip into your back pocket. again.

They want $4.5 million to buy land two blocks away from land they (we) already own on Washington Avenue.

If you planned to build a house on a lot, why buy the lot two doors down? If you smell something, it's probably the odor of rising taxes.